Stay architecturally enlightened!

How much would you be willing to pay to shave a minute off your commute? For New Yorkers, the answer appears to be around $56 per month. That’s how much more New Yorkers pay in rent, on average, for a one-bedroom apartment that’s a minute closer by subway to Manhattan’s main business districts.

That finding...puts an approximate value on the old real estate adage about the importance of location, location, location.
— Five Thirty Eight

More data collectin' and crunchin':Chicago installs "urban Fitbits" to track air quality, noise levels, and trafficInvestigations into the threat of air pollution have failed to account for people's movementTracing the physical infrastructure supporting the internet View full entry »

Where should you travel if you want killer views of the stars unblemished by artificial light?Certainly not the U.S. or Europe, where nearly 100 percent of the population endures some form of light pollution...Italy’s [ISTIL], NOAA, the National Park Service, and elsewhere built one of the most comprehensive atlases of global light pollution to date. They hope their work will set a benchmark for future generations struggling with day blending into night.
— CityLab

You can find the atlas of artifical sky brightness here.More on Archinect:New glow-in-the-dark cement could illuminate roads & structuresDesigning for the Night"drawing/space" by Emma McNally to show at “Abstract Drawing” exhibition in London’s Drawing Room View full entry »

Copenhagen has become the first city in the world to attempt to monetize its, and others’, data through a city data market.

Traffic snarl-ups, home break-ins, whether it rained or snowed, and how much electricity the city dwellers use each day is among the data to be traded for cash, city officials announced. Interestingly, the city, which is partnering with Hitachi on the project, also wants to incorporate others’ data.
— Network World

"Not all data will have a price tag—some of it will be free, but it will be anonymized anyway."Relatedly, in a recent conversation with Joseph Grima, co-founder of Space Caviar, the architect suggested, "...the home is becoming a factory of data to the point that one could pay one's rent through... View full entry »

Canada's University of Calgary paid almost $16,000 ($20,000 Canadian, ~£10,800) to recover crucial data that has been held hostage for more than a week by crypto ransomware attackers.

The ransom was disclosed on Wednesday morning in a statement issued by University of Calgary officials. It said university IT personnel had made progress in isolating the unnamed ransomware infection and restoring affected parts of the university network.
— Ars Technica

"It went on to warn that there's no guarantee paying the controversial ransom will lead to the lost data being recovered."Attacks with ransomware have become increasingly frequent. As the name suggests, ransomware allows hackers to take computers hostage until the user pays up. The... View full entry »

OK, so this would mean the way to make San Francisco as affordable as (say) Portland would be to either cut everybody’s salary in half, or fire half of them, or allow the city’s population to rapidly grow about 50 percent, to about 1.2 million, while the number of housing units increased even faster.
— Michael Andersen, on Medium

In discussing San Francisco's rising housing costs over the years, journalist Michael Andersen re-emphasizes some points in this recent blogpost by a man named Eric Fischer, who took his own approach in analyzing the city's housing prices before 1979, when SF's rent-control rates began being... View full entry »

Today the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2015 population estimates for counties and metropolitan areas. After volatile swings in growth patterns during last decade’s housing bubble and bust, long-term trends are reasserting themselves. Population is growing faster in the South and West than in the Northeast and Midwest, and faster in suburban areas than in urban counties; both of these trends accelerated in 2015.
— citylab.com

Related stories in the Archinect news:See 2,000 Years of Urban Growth Around the World With This Interactive MapThe World’s Population Can Fit Inside New York CityCensus: LA is the nation's densest urban area, while New York ranks 5th View full entry »

The optics of the camera obscura ha­ve faithfully served photographers for ages. The recipe has been simple: a lens, aperture, dark box and something to record the light.

But the camera as we know it is changing. A revolution in digital imaging research could surpass the camera obscura in almost every technical way... It’s called computational photography, and it stems from the idea that if you can capture visual data instead of a true image, then the picture can be reconstructed with software.
— NY Times

Related:Architecture in the age of photoshopWim Wenders discusses the role of architecture and landscape in his filmsBetween Two and Three Dimensions: Panelists Discuss the Relationship Between Architecture and Photographic Representation at the LA Photo Fair 2014 View full entry »

Six months after the AIA voted in favor of the Equity in Architecture resolution, it looks like the organization is turning their words into actions. Most recently, they announced the establishment of the Equity in Architecture Commission, a 20-member panel of leading architects, educators, and... View full entry »

Ventura County, Calif., is the absolute most desirable place to live in America.

I know this because in the late 1990s the federal government devised a measure of the best and worst places to live in America, from the standpoint of scenery and climate. The "natural amenities index" is intended as "a measure of the physical characteristics of a county area that enhance the location as a place to live."
— washingtonpost.com

Wanna find out how well or how poorly your home county scored? Head over to the Washington Post article and hover your mouse over the interactive map. (Residents of the Great Lakes Region - prepare yourselves for disappointment.) View full entry »

[Jon] Sojkowski worries that these building types, made with materials that are abundant in Africa and sustainable, will soon be lost to history because of a misconception that they are inefficient, outdated and only used by the poor. At one point during his research, he met a man who told him he wanted a Western-style metal roof. 'I asked him why, and he said, ‘Because then I would be somebody,' Sojkowski recalls.
— CityLab

Since architect Jon Sojkowski launched his African vernacular architecture database last year, he has amassed a broad range of photos showcasing the traditional building techniques and materials from 48 countries. Photo submissions are also welcome.You can also check out video clips from... View full entry »

The L.A.-Waze partnership is, at least in theory, an initial step toward allowing the city’s planners and engineers to regain a healthier role in mediating the kinds of longstanding cross-town conflicts that Waze has renewed and amplified. Whether the deal will help to resolve fundamental long-term issues related to the city’s growth and inadequate infrastructure is another matter.
— newyorker.com

A record-high number of candidates actively working toward an architect license provides more evidence of a thriving talent pool for the architect profession, according to new 2014 data released today by [NCARB]. More than 37,000 aspiring architects were testing and/or reporting experience hours last year, a substantial part of the path to architectural licensure required by the 54 U.S. state and jurisdiction licensing boards.
— NCARB

NCARB CEO Michael Armstrong gave a first glimpse of key findings in the "NCARB by the Numbers" report today at the AIA Convention in Atlanta. Read the full press release here.Previously:NCARB will resolve "Intern Architect" title debate at AIA National ConventionNCARB Launches ARE... View full entry »

Open data, and the interactive mapping and data visualization that can come of it, has become a de facto engagement and storytelling tool among contemporary journalists, social justice activists, and civic-minded technologists. But despite its allure, open data’s potential for fostering civic engagement and creating transparency and dialogue is plagued by issues of usability, access, and quality control.
— urbanomnibus.net

Architectural design competitions have long been a crucial element in the field -- from the student level to starchitect status -- that can provide an international platform for drawing attention to pressing issues and new ideas in the world around us. Nonetheless, the typical structure of the... View full entry »

Every year, surveys and lists are published that purport to know the “best places to live in America,” but AARP’s new livability index is based on exhaustive research and data, providing scores for all of the 200,000-plus Census block groups in the country. Each neighborhood has scores that take into account seven categories: transportation, environment, health, civic and social engagement, and educational and employment opportunities.
— nextcity.org